Stiles Financial Services Inc Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Stiles Financial Services Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 81.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,194 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Tevis Investment Management grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 17,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 4,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $518,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 110,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 202,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,264,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $373.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.01.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.